Mutual
by birthdayfriend
Summary: All is not going well at Freddy Fazbear's Pizza after the infamous Bite. This story follows Bonnie and Mangle in the last days of the restaurant, and their attempts to make the most of the time they have left. I'll be posting updates as chapters until it's finished. The title is tentative.
1. Chapter 1

November 13, 1987

11:50 PM

"Come on out, darlin'. It's safe."

Mangle obliged, moving the box of spare parts out of the way of the supply closet's door and exiting the small room. Her and Bonnie's nightly ritual was the highlight of her day, after all. He stood in the hallway, as handsome and blue as ever. Not that she would actually tell him that, of course! She cared for Bonnie an awful lot, but to admit it... _Best not to risk it_, she thought with some resignation as she gave the animatronic rabbit a big grin.

"How've things been, Bon? It sounded pretty busy today!" To her surprise, his face sunk.

"Too busy, in fact. A kid got injured by accident."

"Oh goodness! I hope it wasn't too bad?" Bonnie didn't answer immediately, instead rubbing the back of his head with one paw. It was his endearing response to an awkward situation, generally seen as a response to praise that he was too flustered to accept. This was not one of those times.

"We might have'ta close." His voice lacked its normal easygoing nature, and was instead dead solemn. This worried Mangle as much as the words that came out of his mouth. Bonnie was the most relaxed member of the Fazbear Crew, and his faith that everything would turn out okay even in the most unfortunate situations was a staple of every routine. If Bonnie Bunny said that things would be fine, then they would be. Now, without his normal optimism, it was as if the restaurant was already doomed.

"Oh, Bonnie..." On instinct, Mangle wrapped him into a tight hug. She instantly regretted the forwardness of her action, but that vanished into relief when he reciprocated. It lasted perhaps a little longer than it needed to, but if Bonnie minded, he made no effort to express it.

"We'll be fine, darlin'. The manager's already talking about finding a buyer for us; I'm sure we'll end up right as rain." His trademark smile returned, and just like that, everything was alright again. "Say, up for card games with the others? It's looking like it'll be a quiet night, and it's been too long since we've gotten a chance to relax."

"Sounds good! Lead the way, dear."

November 14, 1987

7:40 AM

Still laughing, Bonnie and Mangle walked back to the supply closet that she called home. He felt bad about the fact that she had to settle for it, but she never complained. That was something that he admired the most about her, in fact- despite the lousy turns in life that she had been dealt, she never stopped smiling. He half-heartedly wondered if his own reputation for looking on the bright side stood a chance against hers.

"Oh man, Chica isn't going to forget that loss for a while."

"No kidding! I still can't believe I bluffed her with two pairs to a straight."

"I don't think she can, either." He chuckled. Honestly, he thought she'd had at least a flush to challenge Chica as boldly as she had. The chicken animatronic was known for her boisterous confidence when she had a solid hand, and the fox was easily the most passive player of them all. For her to pull such a ridiculous bluff was completely unprecedented, to say the least.

"We'll have to do that again soon, huh? I haven't had that much fun since..." She paused, and maybe it was his imagination, but she seemed to straighten up a bit. "Since I was normal, I think." Bonnie wasn't sure how to respond to that; he badly wanted to embrace her, to reassure her that she was perfectly fine the way she was and that she need not worry about it, but he didn't dare to. He resented himself a little for that, truth be told. Even though he made sure to never call her by the derisive title that the humans in charge had come up with, the others weren't so sensitive, and he had noticed her freeze up a little each time the word "Mangle" left their lips. She certainly didn't deserve her condition, or the treatment she got for it, but at the same time, the prospect of opening up to her terrified him more than the restaurant's likely demise.

"Guess I'll get going, then. Have a good one, Bonnie." Her voice finally snapped him out of his ruminations, and he almost gave a start.

"You too, hun." He smiled, and waved goodbye. As the door shut and the heavy box of spare parts was pushed back into place, he sighed, upset with himself for another reason. He had lied to her last night. Sure, the owner was making negotiations for the ownership of the Fazbear Crew, but that didn't include the busted up, put-together toy fox. In all honesty, though he hated to admit it, she was likely to be junkheap fodder. _Perhaps the buyer will be a nostalgia junkie_, he thought to himself. _I can only hope._


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: I messed with Chapter 1 a bit since I originally posted it. You may want to give that a quick second look as well.

November 14, 1987

11:50 PM

"Come on out, darlin'. It's safe."

After a short delay, Bonnie heard the familiar sound of Foxy pushing the box out of the way, and opened the door. As always, she seemed overjoyed to be out of her room. Bonnie wondered why she caged herself in, and why nobody else thought about that. The staff never raised an objection, provided that she supplied them with anything they requested from the closet, and the others seemed to more or less forget her existence when she wasn't around. Perhaps he would bring it up sometime.

"I didn't hear anyone here all day, Bon. Why's that?"

"We closed for today because of what happened yesterday. The manager's still deciding what to do, from what I've heard."

"Makes sense... Any word on the poor kid?"

"Nothing yet... I hope she's okay, though. I couldn't bear to have anything happen to that lil' angel. She even brought in a picture that she drew of me and her."

"Oh, gosh, Bon..." She approached, like she had the night before, but merely grabbed his hand this time. He was thankful to have something to hold on to. Without saying a word, he began walking. She kept pace, and the two began to tour the establishment.

All was generally quiet. The pair only encountered one other animatronic on their journey- the older, ruined, purple Bonnie, apparently in free roam mode. The blue rabbit nodded at it in acknowledgement, but it passed them by, giving no sign that it noticed their presence. Eventually, they ended up in the lobby, one of the few rooms with windows to the outside world. Bonnie was usually too busy to get a good look during the day, so he enjoyed spending his nights watching the quiet country road. He had always kind of wanted to explore it, but now that Freddy's was possibly facing closure, he realized how badly he desired to just stay in the restaurant. Still holding hands, they stood for some time before she spoke.

"Pretty sky out there tonight, huh?"

"Yeah."

"You know, I can't remember the last time I looked outside." She pronounced the word with some reverence, like she wasn't fully sure if she believed that there was an entire planet outside of the pizzaria.

"Believe it or not, I went outside, once."

"Oh, really? I don't think you told me that story before!"

"I haven't mentioned it to anyone, actually. Remember waaaay back, when we had just opened and the manager got pictures with all of us for the papers? Well, I was with some kids when he got the rest of you, so he had me pose in front of the building with him."

"In front of the building! I can't even imagine what that must have been like."

"I was pretty nervous to leave, but once I got out there, I realized that it wasn't terribly unusual. Just a lot more... open, I guess. Cars are a lot louder when you don't have a wall in between you and them." She took in his every word, moreso than normal. Bonnie hadn't really thought about it, but he now realized alien his experience sounded to the others. She waited a while to speak up again, apparently deep in thought.

"Maybe we'll all experience the outdoors soon, too."

"How do you figure? We still aren't allowed to leave the building, and I don't see that changing soon."

"Well, if we get sold, we'll have to leave somehow..."

"Shucks, we don't know for sure that it'll happen yet. In fact, I'd say we won't."

"You sure, Bon?" He sighed, unsure how to answer. On one hand, he knew what she wanted to hear, but on the other, he was beginning to have doubts about their situation, and he didn't want to lie. In the end, his inner optimism won out.

"Positive."

The pair stood absolutely still, hand in hand, until morning.


End file.
